I am shopping for books today. I remember people recommending this one, so I will order it (unless someone has other advice):
City of the Soul: A Walk in Rome (Crown Journeys)
by William Murray
AMAZON LINK

What about this one, instead of getting the new edition of the Eyewitness Guide for Rome:
Rome in Detail
by International Herald Tribune (Editor)
AMAZON LINK

Pauline from Slow Travelers

Do you already have "City Secrets, Rome?" That's the one Rome book I see recommended over and over here and on AOL.

Rome in Detail is very good, with lots of less-commonly visited sites well-described. It's good to read before you go to pick out sights/areas that intrugue, and then go from there.
I didn't like Murray's City of the Soul much at all. Thin material, superficial. Not nearly as good as, say, Morton's A Traveller in Rome.
I concur that City Secrets: Rome is fun to read and has lots of interesting, out-of-the way places to visit.
I plan to have a little thing on guidebooks in my Rome trip report, which I am writing now.
Yrs, Robert

William Murray's "City of the Soul" was very disappointing. Skip this one.

I like Rome in Detail, it will probably be the only Rome guide book I take this weekend.

Kim
Check Out My Italy Planning/Trip Blog

It's not a guide book, but if you haven't read "When in Rome: A Journal of Life in Vatican City" by Robert J. Hutchinson, I'd recommend that. Amazon has 28 pp of excerpts, so you'll know in advance if it's quirky assortment of facts and subjects appeals to you.

I didn't much care for City of the Soul either. Maybe just not what I'd expected, but I thought it was boring. I like the DK Guide's Top 10 Rome (found some great sights and shops I'd not heard of before in this guide).

Unrelated to guidebooks, but I just finished reading "My Father Came From Italy" by Maria Colletta McLean. The first few chapters I thought, Oh this is just another travelogue, but then she starts weaving in her father's story and I found myself really drawn in. She tells snippets of his story intertwined with her purchasing a house in his hometown of Supino (sight unseen!?) and takes him back to visit. She discovers that not only did he work hard to give the family stability and security, but she also sees his life as a heritage. I enjoyed the story.

Pauline, PT your address and I will mail City of the Soul to you. You can
either keep or forward along. As far as information for a traveler in Rome,
it is indeed a bit thin. But, if you are interested in a quick, light read
with a few interesting perspectives, it's an OK book.

Rome in Detail is a must buy, I think. When my credit card deflates after
Italy trip and Christmas, I am going to purchase the Florence and Venice books
by the same publisher.

I also read and loved "My father came from Italy"
for books like that, i also suggest "the garden of Papa santuzzu"
very touching stories

mimi

I LOVE Rome: An Oxford Archaelogical Guide.

You can find it on Amazon

It's a fantastic book that discusses the layers of Roman architecture from the days of the earliest settlers and the Etruscan kings through about the 6th century AD.